dylanmiles23

Filet is the only steak I can chew. And because we now eat such small amounts the price isn't a killer anymore. My husband doesn't eat meat so it's just me to worry about. Enjoy it any time of the day or night .

​You look wonderful!!!! I am happy your hips are doing well. I know by losing weight my knees and back aren't as bad as they were and I really don't want any more surgeries. ​Have a wonderful and Happy New Year. I hope your Hanukkah was good. My grandsons have Santa and Xmas.

That was wonderful. I am Jewish and my mother let us have Santa but no trees. I grew up in a Boston public housing project and I once found a large branch from a tree. I brought it home and my oldest brother helped me decorate it. he is 10 years older than me and very creative. We strung popcorn, I recall. Thank you for letting me remember that. have a wonderful holiday, Cheryl and everyone else. Arlene

Thank you for sharing your wonderful story. Good or bad it can help others. Before my surgery I had a lab sheet for over 30 blood tests. I have no idea what they were but I am happy the doctor requested them after reading your story.

Good for you! I put everyone before me, my husband, my mother is 95 with dementia, my mIL is 90 and gave up driving and my 69 year brother is mentally challenged. Today I told my husband he needed to drive me where I wanted and he cancelled his mother! We share 1 car. Tomorrow I take my brother food shopping and for his check up, he has diabetes. That is at a Boston hospital and a real PIA! Have a great holiday season and do something for you.

Welcome. Good luck with your new journey. I didn't find this site until after the surgery. I love my band. The best thing I have ever done for ME. My health is wonderful. I am eating much better. For instance, for dinner tonight I made 1/2 a rack of ribs and couldn't finish them. The old me, the whole rack and then some. The good thing about the band is, it can be removed. None of your insides are cut away and thrown away. There are no staples holding your stomach to make it smaller that can be stretched. You will here the good, the bad and the ugly of every kind of WLS. Do what is right for YOU and no one else. I hope your surgeon and their team are helpful to you. I love mine. I go to my monthly support meetings and learn a lot. At the meetings the other people have had all the different surgeries and no one ever puts down another person's WLS choice. Enjoy this site and your new up coming wardrobe.

thank you. when I go to bed, that is when my stomach never shuts up.

I always go to doctors when something isn't perfect or changes. Maybe time to visit. Your 'kitty' shouldn't hurt.

As I write this, the snow has started, again. It is around 10 out and it may get 35 tomorrow or what I call a heat wave. Every year my husband wants to go down south but my children and grandsons live here. Our elderly mothers live here. Also you need $$$ to live in 2 places but tonight is Mega Millions, over $550 million, so that would get him his warm weather. This past week I have had vertigo and the room has been spinning. Awful. I am seeing my ENT today for my annual and hopefully he can help me. My oldest brother told me he has it too. Not an excuse but I have not been to the gym because I am afraid of what could happen if I do any of the machines. That is why we have wonderful doctors, to help us. They help with our band questions, also. I love when people bad mouth other's WLS choices. If you did not have a band or sleeve or by pass you can't judge. I do know many people who had by pass and after 7-10 years they are larger than before. One of these women said her surgery failed. WRONG! she failed. I have seen her eat and drink cocktails and wine, daily. The only sleeve people I know are at my monthly support group and they are newly done and they have no complaints, good for them. I decided I didn't want anything other than Band because it can be removed and the others can't. Each to his own and band bashing is just RUDE! I hope everyone has a warm and safe week. Arlene

I don't understand how people on a website assume they know me, or that my band is tight.... I take these pills every morning, without crushing them: A person with a tight band could never do that... \ \ \ \ I feel a properly adjusted band will put me in the Green Zone...and the characteristics of being in the Green speak for themselves.... That is why I elected to have surgery in the first place...to do for me what I could not do on my own... The band is adjustable and everyone has the choice to have it at their comfort level..there is no right or wrong... my doctor told me not to swallow any pills I do have one that I have to but everything else I chew. But all doctors are different and we need to listen to our own.

that was great. Thanks. I love the things you write and talk about, the truth.

I can only chew filet mignon. Pot roasts, sometimes if it is really really cooked well. My son does southern BBQ catering and his brisket (smoked 12-16 hours) and ribs are great for me. I love ribs and find them too hard to chew unless they are smoked for 12 hours or so. Unfortunately in Boston, people don't do out door catering in the winter so I now have to wait until the spring but I did have his brisket a few week ago and it was so soft and easy to chew. I can chew shrimp but had to give up lobster. I have salmon about 2-4 times a week. Meatballs with tomato sauce or sweet and sour meatballs are great and I make a few pounds and freeze them in 4 oz. packages.

One thing to remember with all WLS it is a tool and all tools, screw drivers, drills, hammers, need help to be used correctly. Did you gain all your excess weight in 6 months, 1 year? I didn't. I decided when I was getting the band, I would give myself 2 years to get to my goal, not the doctors. I am at my doctor's goal now but I want to try to lose 40-50 pounds more. I'll see as I get closer. Don't give up on yourself and go for another WLS just because you think it is an easier way out. They all need guidance. Find a dietitian that will work with you and understand your needs.

my doctor is pretty much the same as yours. I was also told never use a straw again but I have seen many people at my support groups with them. Each to their own but it's the same doctor.

Hi. Are you exercising at all? That helps with losing inches and sometimes the inches show up more than pounds lost. Also, maybe call your dietitian for advice on your food choices. As for eating out, I eat out all the time and try my best to order healthy foods and not over eat. When I get a stuck moment, I take a walk, I have left my husband in restaurants many many times, while I am out walking. I order from the children's menu a lot. I don't know about the UK, but in the USA, I got a card from the lap band company asking if I can order smaller meals. I have used the card many times. Also, sometimes I go to the restaurant's web site and review the menu so I have an idea of what I should order. Good luck and please don't give up.

Sorry to hear about your back surgeries. My thoughts are call your band surgeon and see your dietitian. They know you and know best how to help. I have an aunt around 85 who does yoga in a chair. I know nothing about yoga or the chair type, maybe look into something like that. Feel better.

People don't understand WLS unless they go to meetings and talk to others. It is not an easy way out. It is a tool that has to be worked with. If your car doesn't have gas and oil, that tool won't take you out of the driveway. If we don't oil our tool and baby it like our cars it won't get us to 80 or 90 or older. My family, both sides, live until 90-100 and I would like only if I am healthy and with my tool The Band, I feel I may make it to 90. My mother is 95, mind is gone but very healthy. As far as telling friends or family, I only told my very close family before and after the Band told very few people. I still don't like sharing my personal life. I have had people ask why I don't eat more and I say i have plenty of food thank you. I don't share my pounds lost with anyone but my husband. If I told my sons then they would have to lie when asked because I wouldn't share that number. I was huge, bigger than I ever thought, 268 when I started and that number will never be told to anyone. Yesterday on Wendy Williams, Rubeun Studdard was on and he said WLS is the easy way out. How wrong is that???? All his years of dieting have not been successful. He needs major help and being young, this is the time to get the help, not when you are over 60, like me. So everyone, I got carried away, sorry. But don't tell people about WLS unless they are your partner in life. After the surgery, then when it is too late, then tell others and tell them off if they don't approve. Your body, not theirs. Have a warm day. It is very cold in Boston. Arlene

I am from MA and we have Romney care. It did take a while for the computers to get going, 2 years. Because of Romney care, my husband is alive, I have wonderful health insurance, my MIL can afford her meds. Everyone has to give it a try. Nothing is perfect for everyone.

Hi. I have the band but we all have to start somewhere. Are you exercising and drinking lots of water? That does help. Also, something I did not do and regret, taking before measurements. Maybe you lost some inches and never realized it. Are you following the dietitian's plans? For 4-5 months before my surgery I gave up breakfast foods for protein shakes and was down 28 pounds by my surgery date. I hate eggs so I had bagels, french toast and other high carb foods. Maybe give something like that a try. Good luck with your journey.

Ok, I am sitting in my house Freezing!! The heat is on high for me, 70. I have on sweat pants, long sleeved 't', sweat shirt and my Ugg boots in the house. My husband told me to wear a hat. No on that one. I also wear a scarf wrapped around me a lot. ​So are you all cold? I am in Boston, actually a suburb about 10 miles from the city but I did grow up in Boston and went to Boston Public Schools. Lately I have been eating some bad s**t. Last night I ate a container of chocolate covered pomegranates from Trader Joe's Can't buy those again! I really need to shape up and also move my body. I haven't been to the gym in 3-4 weeks. My husband I and share a car and he has been using it a real lot lately, for good stuff, so I am home alone with my *****, Ruby, the cat. My husband calls her 'Dog" because we were always dog people. We have a cat because we had a mouse and my son had 1 too many cats, they now have 2. Since'Dog' moved in we never saw the mouse or any mice since! My husband loves her except for those long claws that scratch the crap out of you. Well everyone have a wonderful warm, dry and safe Monday. Arlene

Ugg boots are the best investment for cold feet. I have had them for 4-5 years now. They make less expensive ones by different companies but I wear size 12, so I never get the bargains. Near my mother's nursing home is the New Balance outlet and there I get great deals in size 12. Tell Santa "K" you want Uggs. Thanks for the great card. Only your Santa would ride a hog.

My mother always had a saying, not that she always followed it but it was, if you can't say something nice, say nothing. I talk about people but never ever to their face.

Hello and happy holidays to everyone. Tonight is Hanukkah and tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Being Jewish always meant fried potato latkes and other non healthy foods. As far as I know we are not doing a Hanukkah celebration this year being that tomorrow is turkey day. Saturday I will be seeing the whole family, plus. My youngest grandson, Max will be 1 on Friday. I don't ask menus because my son's MIL (she likes to run the show) is coming in and she is a cook and baker. She loves to bake so much that she researched her new oven ($12, 000.) She also is very thin and healthy. And she is the most frugal person I know. She likes her stuffing so much she isn't going to my brother's tomorrow. Weird!! I hope all of you eat accordingly. I am bringing green beans to my brother's because I know that the sweet potato casserole is very sweet with marshmallows etc. and I really hate it, any way. I don't like my SIL's stuffings either which is good. My son's MIL's stuffing is the one I make with Ritz crackers but mine is better because I have added a few things. My DIL said it was much better. It was the great grandmother's recipe. So now you want to know how I have their recipe. Well, my DIL's grandfather and my MIL's brother-in-law were brothers. We are NOT related. We just share cousins and the same aunt and uncle. Well everyone enjoy the weekend. The food, the shopping deals. MA, where I live, the stores do not open tomorrow. They open mid night, and even that is crazy. I have never gone black Friday shopping and never want to. Peace to everyone and remember our wonderful troops that make it that we can celebrate all of our different holidays as one country. Arlene

I took Colace after the surgery (july, 2012) and because of issues I take it every day with Mira-lax, also. How fun is that! The Colace tastes really bad, I put it into my shakes and the Mira-lax into my hot tea.

Last night was my monthly support group at the hospital. My dietitian recommended using Nectresse (made by Splenda) instead of Truvia (which I have been using). I went to Nectresse's site and they offer samples and coupons. I drink about 8-12 cups of iced tea and hot tea a day and use a sweetener, never lemon or other flavors.